Lost in Venice with a taste of Turkish Delight and Souvlaki

[Pushka]

This is the Ancient Library



Hadrian's Gate



The local gathering place. As the marble was cold during winter the slaves would warm the seats first.

 

[Pushka]

The terrace houses are amazing. They were only discovered a few years ago.

This is what they look like once uncovered but not restored.



The process is painstaking. Like assembling multiple jigsaws.





The murals are fabulous.



It's painstaking and ongoing work.

 

[Pushka]

The terrace houses are housed in a separate structure that is well built. You walk across Perspex panels above the various areas.

 

[Pushka]

Next on to the amphitheatre.

It's impressive.



It's hard to imagine these original pavers are over 5000 years old.



We left Ephesus then on to a delightful lunch in a garden to sample the local fare.

Then, ah, the carpet and cultural demonstration. We'd been warned about the hard sell. It didn't disappoint.

Some of the carpets were stunning.

Like this blue one. It was so soft.



And this one of pure silk. It took five years to make.



But soon these two beauties were covered by rugs being flipped around the room like frisbees. Aladdin's magic carpets or whirling dervish perhaps?



I'd estimate maybe 50 rugs there.

What happened next was bizarre. A carpet expert would attach to each person or couple. This was after being provided with tea. They'd chat about your favourite rug which was the blue one for me. It wasn't silk so maybe not too $$?

Then each person was taken to a separate room "to discuss". Hmmm. I was told it was $8,000 USD. Then he asked what price I'd buy a similar carpet. Dude, I'm not buying here. He brought out smaller ones but the thing that attracted me was that colour blue. Thank God they didn't find another one.

I thanked them then went to find my group. As you walked past their presentation room for another group they'd close the door. I finally saw a family of our group who'd slipped into the rear courtyard. I'd escaped.

 

[Pushka]

Now it's back on the ship and awaiting departure. It's 4.30pm and definitely Baileys on Ice time.

I did manage to buy a gorgeous white cotton dress and pink sandals. Not sure how that happened.

It's a good thing to have the local currency.

The loo visit for instance. Price was 1 euro or 50 lira. 50 lira is around 25 cents AUD. 1 euro = $1.20 ish. With that bargain I could get my sandals.

 

[Dougo]

You did well to escape the carpet demo and push to buy.

Re the Latrine's at Ephesus, the first time we went there that area was a little more rustic ... you could see through to the ground and someone in our group dropped her camera down there. Luckily for her it was retrieved and luckily for her it fell onto the ground and not down an ancient cistern !

 

[Pushka]

The bathroom at Ephesus had an attendant telling you which one to use!

 

[Pushka]

Our last sail out. We overnight in Istanbul tomorrow.

MrP enjoying his Corona and me enjoying the most expensive sparkling on the list.

On our balcony.

 

[Pushka]

We enjoyed a lovely dinner last night at the specialty restaurant Murano. This is a paid restaurant and so the service is stellar.

It is quite a performance. And lovely food.

The setting. With gold plated plates. Apparently $300 each.



The entrees. Mine was foam risotto. Perfection.



MrP's was pork belly. Beautiful crackle and flavour.



Next I'd ordered Lobster. I'm not a lobster fan but I'd heard the preparation was a show stopper. It was.

The spices.



The creme.



More later. Only 5 pix allowed.

 

[Pushka]

The lobster.





Le Fire extinguisher.



Le flambé.

 

[Pushka]

The waiting cloche



Le result!



Shared mini dessert platter.



Finale. Petit Fours.

 

[love_the_life]

I remember having the lobster (cooked at the table) when we ate in Murano on Solstice - it was very good! Glad you enjoyed the restaurant. We liked the Italian one as well - the truffle and parmesan chips were….yum.
Seems so quick that your cruise is nearly done. Have enjoyed the photos and TR so much.

 

[Pushka]

Just arrived into Istanbul with the Muezzins calling to prayer across the river. It's quite smoggy though.

Many beautiful Mosques.

 

[Pushka]

Dame - I still have Istanbul, Athens and another five days in Santorini to go. But the cruise has been wonderful. Really love Celebrity brand and this ship.

 

[Pushka]

Almost everyone has left the ship to tour Istanbul. We have four full days here so we are just chilling out today. Which means I can take ship photos without the photo bombs.

The adults solarium.





The Healthy lunch bar. It's always deserted.

 

[ellen10]

That meal looked amazing!
Still loving all the photos and enjoying the trip.

 

[love_the_life]

Yep, I remember you have some time in Istanbul and Santorini but forgot about Athens so TR not over by a long way; many more great posts to look forward to. Glad you enjoyed Celebrity - I like the Solstice class ships.

 

[Pushka]

Dame - MrP is a convert. He wants to stay onboard! Who'd a thunk that!

Some photos of a lovely quiet ship.

The pool sitting area - one of them



Views looking down through the atrium on different decks - the first one looks through to the library.







The interconnecting cabins don't have the awkward side door but all cabins have a recessed doorway. In the interconnecting ones there is an additional door across that gap and the two normal doors are then left open.

 

[Pushka]

More photos of the ship:

The new IT area just refurbished a few weeks ago during a dry dock, all with apple products.



The entrance to the main dining room.



Not our kind of place:



Artwork



These pieces were blown at the Glass Blowing event onboard. Yep, they blow glass items here. The largest piece if purchased at Murano would be around $15k.

 

[Pushka]

Last couple.

This is a brand new Gastropub. It will be introduced across the fleet. It doesn't seem to work all that well.



This is our favourite bar that is frozen at night.